Friday, September 03, 2004

Bush's Speech

I watched Bush's acceptance speech, and then went to bed. I haven't taken the time to read anyone else's views of it, so this is just me.

What a dud! He had no energy, no ideas, and no depth. He was willfully stupid in putting forward the Kerry "I voted for it before I voted against it" meme, and I'm hopeful that Kerry will swat that one back in his face.

I would have expected his speech to go over well at least with the party faithful packed into the hall, but even they seemed restless and disappointed. You could sense that they were hoping for more protester interruptions, because that at least got some excitement going in the hall.

What is it about Bush that prevents him from delivering a serious line in a straight fashion? Even when he would throw out some tired cliche about God or patriotism, you'd see him smirking or smiling at one of his buddies. He's like a fraternity boy at a party delivering a pick-up line, but paying more attention to his buddies watching him than to the one he is supposed to be impressing. His lack of sincerity is demonstrated by his foolish posturing.

Frequently, watching the convention has sent me to bed in a negative mood. Last night, I slept very well. If that's their candidate, bring it on.

4 Comments:

You seem to be quite an expert on crowd psychology. You must have been listening to it on the radio. The crowd looked pretty excited to me.

"You could sense that they were hoping for more protester interruptions"

You seem to be kind of proud of these protestors. I certainly don't advocate violence to them like the story in your other post, but why break into the convention? Don't the republicans have a right to their own convention? Did any protestors try and thwart the democratic convention or interrupt it? I haven't read of any. They would have definitely seen a similar fate as the one above, especially if Al Franken was around.

"What is it about Bush that prevents him from delivering a serious line in a straight fashion?"

Of course your guy has the opposite problem. In an impromptu moment at his "midnight rally" Kerry can't even get the baseball standings right. Of course Bush smiles too much. Wow. You got him. What an indictment. I guess the president should be more serious. If that's what the American people believe about the presidency, then Kerry is definitely your guy.

Not to provoke you but that negative mood you've been in is the realization that the campaign is slipping away. A confident candidate doesn't challenge the incumbent to weekly debates unless he is hurting. A confident candidate doesn't hold a "midnight rally" (which incidentally is a low class move in politics), unless they are in trouble. Kerry's constant missteps are humorous on the surface, but the windsurfing, goofing up sports teams, stupid statements and constant flip flopping has taken it's toll, which is mainly his inability to connect with the American people.Talking heads are wringing their hands over Bush's bounce because of all the "analysis" (read excuses) they gave over Kerry's non bounce. "This is a close race, there won't be a bounce for either candidate."

I no longer believe it will be close come November and Kerry will win less than 15 states. Kerry has alienated his base. People don't want an indecisive leader. For some reason, some people are still not willing to admit that they will vote for Bush, but when the curtain closes and the votes are counted, you will be surprised. And that feeling you get will be there for "four more years."

"If that's their candidate, bring it on."Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Kerry said that once remember? Then afterward he asked Bush to stop.

LJ, I called the speech the way I saw it. I saw lots of very bored delegates. I understand you may have seen something different, but they looked decidedly unenthusiastic to me.

Am I proud of the protesters? Not really, though I think they were pretty effective in throwing Bush off and disrupting any momentum he had been building. But, really, that's a race to the bottom, and hecklers of either party should be discouraged. Discouraged, but not stomped and kicked.

Why in the world is a midnight rally a "low class" move? Did you see the crowds?

We can posture all we want about margins in November. I'm glad you're feeling confident, and not surprised that you don't want to see weekly debates. Keep up the confidence, please, and continue to dismiss the big crowds as "low class".

No, what I meant by low class wasn't the crowds or that it was at midnight.

It is generally accepted polite in politics to allow each candidate to have their night/week at the convention. Once it is over there is plenty of time for campaigning. Bush gave Kerry his turn and Kerry should have done the same. Though midnight is technically the next day, it is generally accepted to wait at least until the talking heads have finished their convention analysis.

But after a week of being blown out of the water, I think he just needed his ego stroked and came out with some lame comment about Cheney calling him "unfit to serve." A statement you won't find anywhere in the VP's speech.

The most telling event of the midnight rally wasn't the crowd but what he had to say. Did he refute everything that was said about him by factual information? No, he never does. He only came back with baseless accusations. He must drive his campaign managers crazy. He plays right into Republican hands.

LJ - while Bush took yet another vacation during the DNC (he's making Reagan look like a workaholic), the Bush campaign continued in full attack mode during the convention, with Cheney out spreading lies and misinformation. "Cheney's two immediate predecessors, Dan Quayle and Al Gore, both took vacation during the opposition's convention." http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/32-07192004-333746.htmlHave you read the comments that Gore made at his midnight rally? Here they are, if you're interested: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200409%5CPOL20040903c.html.He responds to Bush/Cheney's accusations, cites facts, and talks about his own plans. Maybe your news source (Fox, perhaps?) didn't give you the full picture.

If you can read Cheney's comments and come away from them believing that he did not question Kerry's fitness for command, you must be reading a different Dick Cheney.